Floating dredge.



E. cHAuETTE. FLUATING DREDGE.

(Applicatinn led Nov. 26, 1901.)

5 Sheets-Sheet I.

(Ilo Model.)

No. 702,705.. Patented` lune I7, |902.

EQcHAnuETTE.

nomma unione.

(Application led Nov. 28l 1901.)

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

y??? JIA frog/Vey No. 702,705. Patented .lune I7, |902.

E. cHAnuETTE.

FLOATING DREDGE.

(Application led Nov. 26, 1901.) (No Model.) .r 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.,

TN' MORRIS PErERs on. Prycrmurno.. WAHINGTCN. u. xt.'

No. 702,705. Patented June |7, |902.

E. cHAnuETTE.

FLOATING DBEDGE. (Application led'Nov. 26, 1901 (No Model.)

Sheets-Sheet 4.

TN: Nonms simens co,. wom-nwo.. wgxNoToN, u. c.

lf UNITED? STATES l g- OFFrCE;

EPHRAIEM 'ciiAQuEfrTnL otr-NEW RocHELLn-Nuw YORK.

FOAuN'GmREBeE s'PEcrFIcATIoN arming perrorv Letters-raten No. 702,705, dated .rune 17,1902.

Appuctnniea Novemter 26,1901. seritinofssno. (Nomoei.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, EPHRAIEM CHAQUETTE, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of NewRochelle, county of Westchester, State of New York, (whose post-office address is63 Mechanic street, New Rochelle,') have inventf led certain new and useful Improvements in IOv Floating Dredges, of whichthe following is aspeciflcation.

The object of my invention is toprovide a I iioating dredge by meansof which material can be removed from the bottom of harbors,

rivers, canals, and other bodies of water'more uniformly, rapidly,'economically, and effectively than has heretofore been possible. 'Ifo accomplish this object, I provide a dredge by means of which a longitudinal cut of desired length and width is made by a constant adi vancing movement of the buckets Without changing the moorings of the dredge and by which also the end of the cut. is automatically shaped or banked in the formv desired.

The means by which l accomplishthis object are, speaking generally, a traveling dredge# 'possible at the water-line andwhich supports and carries with ita chain-bucket dredging apparatus, theoperating mechanism of which is automaticallycontrolled both as to depth of cut andthe angle at whichthe buckets are presented to the material to be removed at all times during the operation of the dredge.

Incidentally, it is necessaryor advisable to apparatus is, mountedland carried. B is the boiler from which power is derived a to operatethe'various electric motors used in provide means by which the-,doating dredge `is always kept on an even keel whatevermay be the position of the carriage and dredging apparatus longitudinally of the float-. As theloating dredge may be two hundred feet o r more in length, a convenient means of trimming the float during the passage of the car- ,riage and dredging apparatus along the track jrs . is providing a parallel track on which moves a ballast-car or `counterbalance, the-weight of which equals the dredge-carriage and the -chain-bucket dredging apparatus combined.

As the carriage moves from stern to bow the ballast-car moves from bow to stern, and vice Versa'. j l' 'My invention therefore consists in a lioating dredge provided with a dredge-carriage rings'.

lmovi-ng on asuitable track, means for driv- 'ing said carriage,I a chain-bucket dredging ap- Vj ,paratus supported on and carried by said cargriage, means for operating saidA chain-bucket -dredging apparatus` to perform the lcutting Aoperation, .and means for raising and lowerfing said chain-bucket dredging apparatus and adjustingthe-sam'e to the required depth and angle ofcut'. 7 1

ferent parts of mypimproved dredge may be l,produced electrically or by the use of steam, f compressed-air, or other motive power, as may be found most advantageous in different lo- {calities with regard to the work to be performed; but I have illustratedi-nthe accom- The various operations required of the dif- Apanying drawings theA dredge as arranged to be operated electrically, as I believe such operation to'be the best.v b

Figure l is ay sidel elevation` of the bucket apparatus,` part being broken away, it. being understood that thedredge is lnearly twice as long as thepartactu'ally shown in the draw- Fig..2 is an end view of the same, showingli also th'eengi-nes andthe dumping lend view of amodication, showinga double chain-bucketdredge'dischargingv into an independent scow. Fig. 5 is a plan view show- -ging the connection between the dredge-car-` ;-riage and the ballast-car.v

the various operations of the dredge.

Cisa pump drivenby` electric motor D and adapted to be used to expel-the sand, mud,

water,- and other matter brought up by the dredge, `This pump may eitherbesituated in 'the 'isy {apparatus Fig. 3 is a side view showing the y action of the dumping-car; and Fig. 4 is an in the oat A, as shown in Fig.' 2,'in which case suitable hose is attached 'to `'the outletl pipe et and carried as f arashore asmay be dev sired, or it may be located in aisepmatezscow E, as shown in Fig. Y Y

mounted the lifting-buckets and their operating mechanism constituting thev chainy v v Ioo F is the dredge-carr1age, upon-which are adapted to travel along the track l), extending 'nearly the full length of the float and situated as nearly as practicable at the waterline. By making a long opening or channel Gr, extending longitudinally of the float A and open at the bottom, the ends, however, being closed by the bow and stern of the float, and bysetting the track which supports the dredgecarriage as low as possible, I accomplish the double purpose of getting great stability for the dredging apparatus and also of protecting it from the dashing of the surrounding water. Thelength of this channel is preferably about two hundred feet, that being a convenient length of cut to be made by one operation of lhe dredge; but of course this distance will vary with the size of the boat and the work required of the dredging apparatus.

It is to be understood that my dredge is designed more particularly for dredging canals, ponds, and other places where the dredge is at all times near the shore, in which case the most convenient way of getting rid of the material ,raised is by the pump C; but the dredge is also adapted for dredging harbors and other places where the shore is not readily accessible. In the latter case it is necessary to use d u mping-scows, which are brought alongside in the usual way, in which case the pump and dumping-car would be dispensed with.

The dredge-carriage F is adapted to move bodily, under the control of the electric Inotor II, along the track Z9 from end to end, as follows: The motor II is mounted upon the carriage F and carries upon its motor-shaft the worm c, which meshes with the wormgear c' ou a shaft journaled in the framework ot' the carriage andvcarrying at each of its outer ends a pinion c2 c5. These pinions engage with the racks d d, mounted upon the loat, and by their rotation move the dredgecarriage from one end ot' the float to the other, as desired.

I is the chain-bucket dredging apparatus, suspended from the (.lredge-carriage F and driven by the electric motor II, mounted" upon the upper part of said carriage. This driving consists in turning the sprocket c, around which the chain j', carrying the buckets g, passes. As usual in chain -bucket dredges a substantial frame or ladder J, the outer end of which is extensible, as shown, is provided for supporting chain and buckets during their operation, the inner end of the ladder being pivoted upon the dredgecarriage, while the outer end is free to rise or `fall, as occasion requires. When dredging the level surface at the bottom of a canal or harbor, the chain-bucket dredging apparatus may hang about vertical. lVhen, however, the dredging is to be done on a slope, as forming the bank of a canal, the ladder J must be heid at an angle corresponding to the desired slope. The means by which I accomplish this angularsuspension of the chainbucket frame consists chiefly of the counterbalance-supporting frame L, which consists, primarily, of the three'arms 7L, h', and h2. The mai n arm 7L is fixed to the shaft on which the inner end of the ladder J is hung. To this arm the inclined arms 71. 7b2 are pivoted, as shown at fi, their outer ends being supported by the guysj from the main arm, the three arms constituting the frame therefore serving as a unit, and assume a position corresponding to the angle at which the ladderframe J is to be held.

The outer end of the ladder-frame J is con nected with the arm 7?.' and supported therefrom by means of the rope m, secured to the outer end of the ladder-frame and passing over the pulleys n a' to the drum 0, which is turned and controlled by the motor Il?, which is mounted upon the dredge-carriage. The drum 0 and pulley n are mounted uponthe dredge-carriage F, while the pulley n is iixed to the outer end of the carriage 7L. Obviously, therefore, the inclination of the ladderframe will depend upon the length ofvrope depending from the pulley n. The excess of weight acquired by the ladder-frame as its outer end approaches the horizontal is counterbalanced by the sliding weight p, mounted in the arm h2, and which moves toward Jthe outer end of the arm as the ladder-frame approaches the horizontal and moves toward the inner end of the arm 7a2 as the ladder turns to the vertical, so as to maintain the balance at all times.

It will be understood that the same system of counterbalance is employed when two chain-bucket dredges are mounted upon the dredge-carriage, as shown in Fig. 4.

The material raised bythe dredge is discharged either by a simple trough M, as shown in Fig. 2, or by a trough M', which is provided with a feeding-chain N, as shown in Fig. ll. Then a simple trough is used, sufficient slant can be given to the bottom to have the material fall of its own weight. In this case the material is discharged upon a dumping-apron car P, which is mounted upon a track Z2' L', running along the deck of the oat from end to end. This car is substantially half as long as the d redge-carriagc channel, and its traveling apron delivers the material deposited upon it from the trough M into the pump C at all times during the operation of the dredge. The pump C is situated about amidship, and the dumping-car is sometimes on one side of the pump and sometimes on the other.

lOO

IIO

In the operation of the dredge the digging begins when the dredge-carriage is farthest ast-ern. The dredge-carriage is fed forward toward the bow steadily, so that the succeeding cuts by the buckets always take fresh material in advance of the previous cut until the dredge-carriage reaches the bow, after which the moorings of the dredge are shifted, so as to find new material to be removed. Instead of having a dumping-apron extend the full length of this path I make it, as before stated,

about half-length, and when the dredge is working abaft the dumping-carvis also abaft.

v When the dredge-carriage has passedthe eenreversed, so that the apron which previously fed the material forward from the stern to the pump now feeds it backward tothe bow. When the du piping-car is dispensed with and a scow F is brought alongside, asshown in Fig. 4, the scow of course is gradually drawn forward to keep pace in advance of the dredgecarriage. 1 y

In order to keep the dredge on an even keel, and especially Whenvthe moving dredge-carriage is unusually heavy from having vthe double dredge arrangement shown in Fig. 4, itis advisable to provide a ballast-car R, which moves along the dredge from end to end on a track parallel to the dredge-carriage track. This ballast-car is heavy enough to counterbalance the dredge-carriage and the chain-bucket dredging apparatus and moves along the track b2 in an opposite direction fromthe dredge-carriage, but simultaneously With it, so that a ballast-car is at all times as far in front of or behind the center ofthe dredge as the dredge-carriage is behind or in front of the center.

For the purposes of this specification the chain-bucket dredging apparatus may be regarded as of usual construction, a single dredge consisting of two sets of buckets and a double dredge four sets.

The operation of the chain-bucket dredging apparatus will be readily understood, therefore, to be as follows: The dredge being moored at such a place as to give an opportunity for a cut of the desired lengthsay two hundred feet-directly under the dredge longitudinally and the dredge-carriage being substantially at the sterny of the dredge, the

machine is started. The sprocket e beginning to revolve startsv the four chains, with their buckets,` in operation, and the lower bucket of each series cuts away the material from the bottom and dumps it in the trough M on'the dredge-carriage, while the'dredgecarriage, constantly moving forward, causes each succeeding bucket ofthe same series to vbegin the excavating just in advanceof the point where the previous bucket began. The depth of cut made by eachibucket will vary with the quality and height of the material to be excavated. It is obvious that the position of thedredging apparatus shouldbe so related to the quantity ol' ymaterial tof be removedthat eachl bucket in turn should be lled during its normal operationA and not have to force asideadditional'material after it is full. By controlling the depthoffcut, therefore, to the length ofmaterial'through which the bucket has to pass beforeit reaches clear water, so that each bucket is properly iilled, the dredging process is carried'on most effectually. When in this way the dredgecarriage has moved forward and cut awaythe material for a 'predetermined dista'nce, the

Vouter end of the ladderlis now raised to a predetermined angle; Th'e cut is` now no longer madeon a level, butin an upward incline, the slope of which is determined'bythe previous adjustment "of thedevice'with regard to the object in View.' Whenl the top of the bank is reached, if it is desired to deepen the out the dredge-carriage is rolled: back to its initial position and the operation repeated. If, however, the cut is deep enough, the

positions ot'V the moorings of the dredge "are lchanged and a new cut made alongside 'of and parallel to the lirst;

'I claiml. Aoating dredge provided with a longitudinal channel `therethrough with tits ends inclosed, a dredge-carriage moving on a suitable track'extending along said channel near.

the water-line, a vchairrr-"bucket dredging apparatus and its operating mechanism' supported on and carried by said carriage, and a dumping-apron car adaptedto receive material from said chain-bucket dredge Vand convey it to the discharging apparatus, substantially as described.

2. A floating dredge provided with a dredgecarriage moving on a suitabletrack, meansfor driving said-carriage, a chain-bucket dredging apparatus supported on and carried vby said carriage, means for operating said chainbucket dredging apparatus tof perform the cutting operation, means forraising and lowering said chain-bucket dredging apparatus and adjusting the'same tothe acquire'ddepth and angle of cut, anda ballast-carmovingin IOC unison with said dredge carriage; substantially as and for the purpose set'forth.

EPHRAIEM `CHAQUET'IE.

Witnesses:

W. P. PREBLmJr., RAE BATrERsLY. 

